Crikey
… over 12 months since the last blog entry!
Well,
we are still in the UK – just – as we are moving back to New Zealand soon, leaving
on 14th March and arriving on 16th.
So,
a quick overview of what’s been happening over the last year:
Kim:
I've been focussing on writing, with
my goal being to have lots of books published, and ultimately produce a range
of products. I joined a writing group and set up a Writers Mastermind Group (MMG).
The MMG has been excellent; there are 3 of us and we've all found it really helpful. We’ve watched each other grow and develop over the last year, have
shared our writing heartaches and have had lots of fun. In January last year I
set a goal to have a book contract by June.
By 30th June I’d had about 90 rejections and no contract. I didn’t have a Plan B, so wasn’t overly sure what to do next, but 2 days later I got a contract from a New York publisher. It’s a Brain Workout book, based on words and language and will be coming out in September this year. Recently I’ve had approval for a 3-book series from the same publisher, based on Conversation Starters and communication skills. :-)
By 30th June I’d had about 90 rejections and no contract. I didn’t have a Plan B, so wasn’t overly sure what to do next, but 2 days later I got a contract from a New York publisher. It’s a Brain Workout book, based on words and language and will be coming out in September this year. Recently I’ve had approval for a 3-book series from the same publisher, based on Conversation Starters and communication skills. :-)
Someone did an interview with me in my role as a writer:
At
the beginning of last year I took a TEFL qualification (Teaching English as a Foreign
Language) and have been doing private TEFL tutoring in Preston with a number of
Spanish students. It’s been a huge learning curve for me, but all the students
are wonderful, I’ve now got loads of teaching material, and it’s been a great experience.
I took the qualification as an extra string to my bow, in anticipation of having
another skill to offer when living in another developing country in the future…
I
had an operation on my frozen shoulder last year, which has helped, though I
still have problems and still can’t use either of my arms properly.
Jon:
Work has been busy for Jon, with lots of contracts that he’s found both
challenging and rewarding.
He’s
enjoyed being part of the local Linux Users Group, and being involved in several
‘unconferences’, becoming even more immersed and skilled in the technical world!
He
now has a contract to come back to in Wellington, and is very much looking
forward to coming ‘home’.
Jordan:
Having done well in his GCSE exams in the summer, he moved to the Sixth Form
College and is doing A Levels in Electronics, Computing, Maths and Stats.
Student life in the sixth form, in a very different environment to his previous
school, suits him very well. He’s made some good friends and is having some
good experiences.
He’s
taken up indoor rock climbing and has got the first two levels of
qualification. He’s also taken up guitar, both electric and acoustic.
Kira:
Still with her group of friends at school, she’s now in Year 8. She finds the
school quite big, and I think she’s more suited to a small school – being in a
class of 3 children in Uganda seemed to suit her very well!
She
gave up indoor rock climbing a few months ago, as even though she was doing
well, she found it a bit boring climbing up and down walls all the time! She’s
now taken up horse riding and loves it – something else she seems to be a
natural at.
She’s
really looking forward to going back to NZ, the place she has always seen as
home.
It’s
been great being able to see our families on a regular basis, and good for the
children to get to know their relatives better. It’s also been good to catch up
with friends, some of whom I haven’t seen since before we emigrated in 1995!
And
we’ve made some new friends since coming back as well, which is always great.
So while we will miss our family and friends a lot, I
won’t miss the UK weather!
We
moved out of our house on 14th January, and our furniture started
its journey over to NZ on 20th. It’s due to arrive in Wellington on
18th March.
We moved into a very nice furnished apartment for a
month, and were planning to come back to NZ then. However it wasn’t easy finding
short term furnished accommodation in Wellington, so we decided to stay on here
for another month. It wasn’t easy finding suitable accommodation here either,
so we are now staying in an unfurnished house. It’s a small (‘bijou’ as my brother
calls it), recently renovated house, but because all we have is a suitcase
worth of stuff each, we have had to borrow bits and bobs from people we know in
order to stay here – we have the absolute minimum of stuff - 4 plates, 4
knives, 4 forks and so on; mattresses, some bedding and towels. There are no
curtains in the house, so every night we have to tape pieces of paper onto the
window! Fortunately we are experienced in living in basic conditions :-)
To
all those in the UK, we say au revoir and hope to see you soon, and to all
those in NZ, we look forward to seeing you anon.
